OpenAI is letting a limited group of users test a new set of search features that will answer questions with more timely information and prominent links to sources, marking its most direct challenge yet to Alphabet Inc’s Google. 

The new option, called SearchGPT, will be released as a prototype available on a web browser and give users a stand-alone search experience that could later be added to its best-known product, ChatGPT. OpenAI said users will see responses to their queries with in-line attribution to creators and news publishers, including from the growing number of media companies that have struck licensing deals with the start-up in recent months. SearchGPT will also let users ask follow-up questions without losing context from the original query.

OpenAI declined to give a timeline for when SearchGPT will roll out, but said it will initially be available to users who sign up for a waiting list. OpenAI said it’s working with creators and publisher partners to get feedback on the new tool, and plans to integrate the most successful search features into ChatGPT. Bloomberg previously reported OpenAI was readying a search product. 

With the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, OpenAI sparked a race to infuse generative artificial intelligence (AI) into a range of core internet services. Google and OpenAI-backer Microsoft Corp overhauled their search products with more conversational AI features, while start-up Perplexity introduced a search-oriented AI app. Now, OpenAI is pushing ahead with its own vision for AI search. 

“For decades, search has been a foundational way for publishers and creators to reach users,” OpenAI wrote in a blog post on Thursday. “Now, we are using AI to enhance this experience by highlighting high-quality content in a conversational interface with multiple opportunities for users to engage.”

A key challenge for OpenAI and its rivals, however, is providing accurate information to users, particularly when searching for information about current events. Chatbots can often hallucinate, or invent false answers to questions when they don’t know the answer.

OpenAI has been striking licensing deals with publishers such as News Corp, Axel Springer SE and Time magazine to train its AI models and to integrate more authoritative, up-to-date information within its products. As part of some of these deals, OpenAI also agreed to give users news summaries with attribution.

“The truly talented team at OpenAI innately understand that for AI-powered search to be effective, it must be founded on the highest quality, most reliable information furnished by trusted sources,” said Robert Thomson, the chief executive officer of News Corp, in a statement.  

While OpenAI has struck agreements with large publishers, it’s also been hit with lawsuits from several newspapers, including the New York Times, for allegedly using copyrighted articles without permission. At the same time, OpenAI’s rivals have faced some pushback over their search products. Publishers have worried that Google’s AI search features may negatively impact referral traffic to their websites. Perplexity, meanwhile, has been accused of copying media outlets’ work.

OpenAI said it will give publishers a way to manage how they appear in its new search features. The startup also said websites can choose to be surfaced in search results even if they opt out of having their content used to train OpenAI’s models. 

  - Bloomberg